When EU heads of state meet in Brussels they have a habit of making sweeping statements and signing up to unrealistic goals. The Lisbon Agenda of 2000 is one of many fine examples. That was the commitment for the EU to become the world's most competitive economy by 2010. Seven years on that target has been conveniently swept under the carpet.

So is the recent pledge to cut the burden of EU regulation by 25 per cent by 2012 just another fit of exuberance, or should we actually take it seriously? Well, the European Commission is certainly very serious about meeting the target. In recent years the Commission has developed a steely resolve to remove the dead hand of bureaucracy from the throat of the business community. As Commission vice president Günter Verheugen put it recently, "businesses should be free to spend their time producing and innovating—not filling in forms or reporting in overly bureaucratic ways".

To demonstrate the EU's commitment to the 25 per cent target, the Commission followed up the Council's agreement by announcing a package of 10 actions that will save companies €1.3bn a year on administrative costs.

Aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) transport companies, small bakers, butchers and grocery shops particularly, freight carriers will no longer have to carry separate transport documents and small businesses in the food area will no longer face the same demanding record-keeping requirements as large supermarkets.

In addition, small businesses involved in mergers or company splits will no longer have to commission costly expert reports if there is no demand for these reports among shareholders.

The Commission promises us that this is just the tip of the iceberg and that we can expect greater purges of bureaucracy in the months to come. It estimates that cutting red tape by a quarter in the entire EU could increase EU GDP by €150bn. Perhaps, at last, the EU has set a target it intends to keep.